In conventional munitions wherein an explosive is contained within a casing, the detonation of the explosive transmits a shock wave into the casing to create a region of intense pressure therein, to thereby expand the casing to effect the fragmentation thereof.
After considerable research and experimentation, the munition of the present invention has been devised to increase the fragmentation of conventional munitions by introducing a mode of fracture called "spallation" produced by imparting a tensile radial stress in the munition casing. This spallation is effected by providing a casing, referred to as a "slapper", containing a high explosive, within and spaced from the inner wall of the outer or munition casing, whereby, upon detonation, the high explosive propels or accelerates the slapper across the space to the outer casing to make a mechanical impact therewith, whereby a more intense stress state is imparted to the outer casing, to thereby produce a larger number of fragments from a given outer casing.